Fallen Star
by Lilith Onyx Eyes
Summary: An Elvish prince is on a mission to save the woman he loves from a terrible man, who happens to be Saruman's son. But who will save him from a curse that only Galadriel knows about?
1. Rescue her

DISCLAIMER: I do not have any delusions about owning any of Tolkien's characters. I only own mine. *sigh* why can't Legolas be mine?  
  
The starry nights had never before bothered him, but now, the darkness was oppressive. His favorite star no longer held any light for him, because it shone for another. Legolas was depressed beyond the measure of men. Though he was held in the highest regard of all, and found all his heart had previously desired wherever he looked, his heart was empty. Love! No. He dared not let his heart dwell upon thoughts of love. The only peace he hoped to find was in death. Not in friendship, he felt betrayed by Elrohir, although he knew that was false. There was not even peace to be found in the gentle presence of Arwen. He longed for the fairest of all, more beautiful than Galadriel, and more radiant than Evenstar. He desired only Edetra, last of the Ilrayea. The one that he had rescued from the darkest dungeons of Mordor, where even the light of the sun feared to go. Legolas could bear it no longer. So many questions he had to ask. But not a one that could be answered by anything but time. Why couldn't Edetra have seen him instead of Elrohir? "Oh, why!? Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't my heart have been left as cold as it was? Why did everything have to happen to her?" "Nothing happens without a reason."  
Legolas spun around to find Galadriel behind him.  
"I'm sorry, Legolas. I did not mean to frighten you. But I do need you to dwell on other matters."  
"Lady, only ask, and I will do as you wish."  
Even through his grief, he remained the courteous elvish prince. Galadriel was pleased. Perhaps this would make his task easier, or in the least quicker.  
"You must free Edetra from Sennoven."  
Legolas blanched. The son of Saruman. He had his father's gift of speech, but a heart far more wicked. It was rumoured that his mother had been a female Uruk, kept for the dark pleasures of the evil white wizard.  
"Legolas, do not fear him. Love is a greater strength than evil. I know what you feel for Edetra. I wish you all speed on your journey."  
But how will I find her? He wondered.  
"Elladan will go with you. He knows the last place she was last seen, for she was with Elrohir. Go with all speed, and with all the blessing within my power to give."  
Legolas left at the closure of her brief speech. He knew that his thoughts would give a far better response than was within his power to speak. As he disappeared into the shroud of night, Galadriel gazed after him.  
"You love not in vain, Legolas. With time the curse will fall." 


	2. Reflection

DISCLAIMER: I do not have any delusions about owning any of Tolkien's characters. I only own mine. *sigh* why can't Legolas be mine?  
  
REFLECTIONS  
  
Legolas collapsed in the quiet dark of his leafy retreat. The only sound audible in the night was the rustle of the leaves that hid him. His body was at ease, but his heart was tormented by the thought of the tortures that his unknowing love might be enduring. 'Stop.' He thought. 'You don't have to make it hurt any worse. She doesn't love you, and never will. She is where she belongs. Elrohir will be good to her. I can't deliver the life that she has become accustomed to, or the comfort of Elrond's house. I all I can offer is love. My love though, cannot be worth anything. I have spent this age alone. Another disappointment will not crush me further. I am great only in war and held in regard only for the duties I perform. ' Duty. The word had become a bitter taste in his mouth. It was his reason for rising in the morning, and for anything that was required from him. There was no other way that he could live and not fade. He was by nature, loving. He found it very.difficult; indeed that he could love and remain unfulfilled and alone. Legolas was not vain, but he was aware of his beauty. Despite that, he could not catch the attentions of any elvish lady. Even his attempts to woo Eowyn of Rohan had proved fruitless. The shield-maiden has eyes for only Aragorn, and later Faramir. 'Why?' 'I don't understand' If it had not been for his sense of duty, the very thing that he despised and required most in himself, he would have faded. His elvish passions were too many, and too strong to go thus far unrequited, without the constant activity of war. Without fighting in the struggles of others, he would hot have been able to endure his own internal battles. 'Edetra, have you ever thought of me at all?' Tears poured from his aqua eyes and spilled into the crystal pool on the forest floor below. Sorrow wracked his body; the pain he felt deep within seem like to break him apart. 'Death. Peace. What more do I have?' 'I was content to love. What I loved is gone' 'Destruction is all I have left; destroy my life and fade with the setting sun. An immortal life is nothing without love; nothing is left for me here. When I am returned with Elrohir and Edetra, my time will be finished. There is nothing left for me now.' 'When the elves leave middle earth, and Evenstar is gone, I will have no loyalties left to this life, or to any other. I will travel to the hinterlands of the east and fade, alone, as I am meant to be'  
  
Alone on the balcony watching the stars, Galadriel heard the melancholy thoughts of the Mirkwood prince. The gloom and fervency of his innermost emotions brought a single crystal tear to her eye.  
  
'Why can't I tell him?"  
  
Alone she wept for Legolas. 


	3. Recurrent Dreams

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine but the couple of characters that do not appear in any of Tolkien's work. Note: Much of the background story is Silmarillion-inspired.  
  
Frightening images flooded Legolas' dreams. The pale light of Arwen's eyes faded into the Dark of Eshnerel's eyes. His fingers were weak and fingers clammy as he tried to grasp the one small knife he had left. Little strength was left in him when her appearance changed into a spectre of fear and deceit. "Come into the Unlight," a foul voice spoke. "Your time is over; my time is beginning. Choose your damnation or your doom. The curse of Mandos is all that is left for you, if you do not accept what I have in mind for you." "I will not live as your slave. Dearly bought will be your victory- if you live to know anything other than death at my hand." Legolas bold words were betrayed by the fear in his eyes. He could fight; bold and many were his deeds, but this was a new adversary. Deception was she- too intangible, almost, for him to strive to conquer. "Come, Legolas, son of Thranduil. It is no longer your choice. Death is upon you." The distorted being before Legolas breathe poison upon him as she spoke. Legolas screamed as Eshnerel's body distorted into the most vile of forms. Soft blue fibers in her dress became tangled webbing. Eight legs sprouted from her disgustingly gnarled frame. The soft lips that Legolas had kissed so many times were perverted into a slavering maw, dripping with the blood of a thousand kills. This creature, creature of blood, and fear, and of foul poisoned hate, brought forth a terror that Legolas had never before known. Even in his fear, his training and instinct served him well. He poised for battle. Terrified, yet strangely confident, he stood, prepared to strike. As his hand raised in battle, his body began to collapse from the poison of the creature's breath. "Elbereth, Elbereth." He called twice with his last remnant of strength. Blood poured down his body in a burning wash of pain. 'End my life quickly, that I may not suffer at the hands of the creature.' The thought sprang to Legolas' mind before he collapsed in burning darkness.  
Legolas bolted upright from his sleep. That dream again! That memory of pain was still left unabated by all the good he could find left in the world. Slowly he raised his weary eyes to the heavens above, hoping to find the light of the sunrise. Only gray was there to meet his gaze. No solace could any of the elves find in dark skies or concealed lights, for peace was found in beauty, and beauty found in light. The evil creatures of black-hearted spirits were found in the dark nights. Legolas' torment was found in nights, and in dreams that never ceased.  
He sat, shivering in the cold pale dawn. Suddenly a light flashed in his eyes and he leapt to his feet. Dressed only in thin breeches, he took off running through the trees. His long hair streamed behind him in a golden cloud. Past the edges of Lothlorien he ran until he reached a small hill outside the forest. Collapsing from exhaustion, the elf gasped for breath as he cried to the gray sky.  
"No more! The light is also my right. I have fought for it, more than many brave elves and men. Would that I had died with them, that I might not live to be alone for the rest for my days."  
Tears poured from Legolas eyes as he wept to the bleak dawn. As he turned to leave, Galadriel's voice echoed in his mind.  
"Have patience, Legolas. Turn back, and see what you would not wait for."  
Slowly he faced toward the east again, fearing to see what might be there. With tears marring his beauty he lifted his face toward the sky. The sun broke its brightest rays upon him with a warmth that brought a rare moment of peace to his heart. 


End file.
